Billy Connolly at Edinburgh Fringe Festival launch

COMEDIAN Billy Connolly was spotted out and about in Edinburgh yesterday as the city’s world-famous Fringe Festival began.

Billy Connolly was spotted at the festival although he is not performing [GETTY]

The 71-year-old Glaswegian, inset, was in Edinburgh on Day One of the festival for the preview performance of a show produced by his wife. Pamela Stephenson Connolly is a producer of a run of performances of Braz Dos Santos’ “Brazouka” – a dance show set in Brazil and directed by choreographer Arlene Phillips.

Connolly is not performing at the Fringe, but is doing a series of shows across Scotland in September and October.

During the festival, which runs until August 25, a total of 3,193 shows will feature across 273 venues in the city – more than a third of which are comedy acts. And a flight from London Heathrow to Edinburgh was temporarily turned into the festival’s 274th venue yesterday as TV comic Lee Nelson performed to passengers.

Nelson, a self-styled “lovable chav” played by former doctor Simon Brodkin, performed for 10 minutes on the Virgin Atlantic flight in a surprise warm-up show.

Virgin Atlantic is sponsoring Venue 150 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, where some of the festival’s biggest names perform.

The festival will feature a range of acts, including comedy shows from Jack Dee, Al Murray and Alan Davies.

A total of 3,193 shows will take place during the festival [PA]

The sheer volume of performers, companies and venues who are gathering in Edinburgh to be part of this year’s festival is overwhelming

Former Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman will perform a one-man show, while Nancy Dell’Olio, the one-time girlfriend of former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson will discuss the topic of “surviving with glamour.”

More unusual shows include an all-male performance of Wuthering Heights and a comedy lecture on the workings of a zombie’s brain.

History enthusiasts can hear Mary Beard speak on ancient Roman humour and Lucy Worsley lecture on the British obsession with murder. Kath M Mainland, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “It gives me great pleasure to say that the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 is finally here.

“We have been getting ready for Fringe 2014 for the past year and it feels fantastic to launch what will definitely be an unforgettable month of arts and culture.

“The sheer volume of performers, companies and venues who are gathering in Edinburgh to be part of this year’s festival is overwhelming and further solidifies the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s position as the best place in the world for artists to showcase their work.

“This year we have seen an increase of 11 per cent on the number of shows coming to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which is hugely encouraging.”